A signature NHL event awaits this weekend as the 32 NHL teams prepare for the decentralized 2025 NHL Draft.
The Lightning management team has filled conference rooms at AMALIE Arena for weeks preparing for the draft, set for Los Angeles this Friday and Saturday.
Each team will send a representative to the draft, but most team personnel will operate from the comfort of their home offices.
Tampa Bay owns one pick across the opening three rounds—Tampa Bay’s draft is currently slated to start 56th overall in the second round, a pick they acquired from the Los Angeles Kings in a trade last June.
The Lightning also possess the Edmonton Oilers’ fourth-round draft pick, one they received for retaining salary on forward Adam Henrique. The team will next pick with their own selection in round five.
Tampa Bay is slated to keep busy in the seventh and final round, as they enter the weekend with four selections.
Current Lightning picks:
Round 2 Pick 56 (via LAK)
Round 4 Pick 127 (via EDM)
Round 5 Pick 151
Round 7 Pick 193 (via SJS)
Round 7 Pick 206 (via UTA)
Round 7 Pick 212 (via MIN)
Round 7 Pick 215
Notable recent Lightning draft picks
Sure, the Lightning might not be staring at a stable full of high draft picks this spring. The good news, though, is the team hasn’t historically needed high draft picks to find NHL players.
The standout names are talked about frequently—fan favorite Brayden Point has 635 career points in 657 games with the Lightning since being selected in the third round of the 2014 draft, and fellow two-time Stanley Cup champion Nikita Kucherov’s future Hockey Hall of Fame career began as a second-round pick by Tampa Bay in 2011.
And hey, 2025 Frank J. Selke Trophy finalist Anthony Cirelli, who is fresh off a career offensive season, was one heck of a pick in the third round of the 2015 NHL Draft.
Tampa Bay has found plenty of draft value over the last decade.
Perhaps one name fresh on the minds of Lightning fans is Dylan Duke, the 22-year-old forward who scored his first career goal in his NHL debut with Tampa Bay on Feb. 8. Duke was the team’s fourth-round selection in 2021 and could see more NHL time in 2025-26.
Max Crozier was the team’s fourth-round pick in 2019 and has two assists in 18 NHL games. The 25-year-old defenseman is a safe bet to play more games in Bolts Blue this winter.
Tampa Bay took forward Gage Goncalves in the second round, and the 2020 draft pick just completed his rookie campaign with 20 points in 60 NHL games.
Other fourth-round Lightning picks that turned into everyday NHL players include Ross Colton and Mathieu Joseph.
Multiple sixth-round Bolts selections have carved out NHL careers, among them defenseman Nick Perbix and forward Cole Koepke. The Bolts signed 2022 sixth-round selection forward Connor Kurth to a two-year deal this March after his strong NCAA season with the University of Minnesota.
Tampa Bay also recently signed goalie Harrison Meneghin, the team’s seventh-round selection in 2024.
The Lightning already made one of the best seventh-round picks in NHL history. Forward Ondrej Palat was the team’s 2011 selection with the 208th pick, and he has now amassed 505 points in 825 career NHL games—12th-most in league history by any player selected in the seventh round.
The team’s 2025 picks still have to be made, but the Lightning have proved it time and time again: there is value and NHL talent to be found even beyond the hype of the first round. That is precisely what the team will aim to find this weekend.
Tune In Information
Round 1: Friday, June 27, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN and ESPN+)
Rounds 2-7: Saturday, June 28, 12:00 p.m. ET (ESPN+ and NHL Network)
